Turkey's Erdogan drops bombshell twist in the Khashoggi case as Trump appears to side with Saudis

Saudi King Salman with President Donald Trump and the US first lady, Melania Trump, at a new Global Center for Combating Extremist Ideology in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Press Agency

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday suggested the Saudis might have covered up a murder in their Istanbul consulate, a dramatic new twist in the case of the missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Investigators on Monday were allowed access to the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, where Turkey has said a hit team of 15 killed and dismembered Khashoggi.

Erdogan said investigators found surfaces newly painted over, which could indicate an attempt to conceal evidence.

President Donald Trump on Monday said he talked to Saudi King Salman and had begun leaning toward the idea that "rogue killers," not agents of the Saudi state, killed Khashoggi.

Under increasing international pressure, Saudi Arabia is reportedly trying to piece together an alibi over Khashoggi's disappearance.

According to Erdogan, Turkish investigators who searched the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul found surfaces there newly painted over.

Previous news reports have cited anonymous Turkish officials suggesting that a hit team of 15 Saudis killed and dismembered Khashoggi, a critic of the Saudi government, inside the consulate.

"My hope is that we can reach conclusions that will give us a reasonable opinion as soon as possible, because the investigation is looking into many things such as toxic materials and those materials being removed by painting them over," Erdogan told reporters, according to the Turkish pro-Erdogan website Yeni Safak.

Turkish investigators acknowledged that searching the consulate 13 days after Khashoggi vanished wasn't ideal. As part of the search, they used a dog and took soil samples as well as a metal door from the garden, according to Reuters.

Saudi Arabia's potential alibi

The New York Times on Monday reported that Saudi Arabia had begun preparing an alibi that would acknowledge Khashoggi had been killed. Publicly, Saudi Arabia so far has issued only denials in response to reports of Turkish claims that Khashoggi was murdered.

The Times cited sources as saying the Saudis were planning to say Khashoggi had been killed in an "interrogation gone wrong," done without the monarchy's knowledge.

Appearing to find the explanation a little too convenient, Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, who has access to US intelligence reports, tweeted he had already heard the Saudis would try to deny fault by blaming "rogue killers."

He accused Trump of having been enlisted as Saudi Arabia's "PR agent" to float the denial.

How is it going for Saudi Arabia now?

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at an official welcoming ceremony in London on March 9. Bandar Algaloud / Saudi Kingdom Council / Handout/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

While Trump and the Saudis appear on the same page about "rogue killers," Erdogan reminded observers on Tuesday that Turkey remained in control of the facts of the case as its investigators continued to uncover potentially damning information.